Posts Tagged ‘detox’

Cleansing by Fasting

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

I fast at least once a year as I enjoy the cleansing  feeling that it gives me, not only my body but also my mind. I feel de-cluttered mind wise after a fast. This passed week I have been on a fast with some friends of mine.

I wish to share some of our experiences during this time. It’s not exceptionally radical, it consist of 3 lead in days then the fasting days,  3 lead out days.

The 4 others that came on the fast with me had never fasted before, so it was great to hear all there positive experiences as we progressed through.

We got together on the first evening (Friday)and spent some time  sharing our reasons for doing the cleanse.

We all had different goals and expectations. TW was give up smoking, GF wanted to detoxify in order to lose weight, SF was wanting to kick start a new rawfood lifestyle and RC wanted to do a detox,  I needed to cleanse.

We met again on the Sunday to make a big pot of Broth which everyone contributed some vegetables too. This being the third day, we had our last solid meal at lunch time on that day.

We all got around the island in my kitchen and chopped up 5 onions, 2 cabbages, 6 capsicums, 3 chillies, a large bag of spinach and 18 potatoes. Fitting all these vegetable into my 2 large pots was a challenge, then GF chomped into his thumb instead of the potato.

In between trying to stop the bleeding finger I added lots of herbs and spices to the broth.

The broth took another hour or so to cook and we settled down to a game of Rummy O, which some of us had never played before. I won the game even though I was flitting from game to stirring soup and tasting.

To everyones horror I stained off the vegetables to be discarded (feed to my chickens) and divided all the liquid broth among the 5 of us, we ended up with 2 litres each.

The fast lasted for three days, then we had our lead out days.

It was amazing how everyone had similar  and some individuals experiences.

Most of us did some kind of cleaning I cleaned out all my draws in my bedroom and in the kitchen.

RC dragged out all her stuff she had stored, she sorted and discarded what was no longer wanted, she did this until 3 am then proceeded to continue the next day to de-clutter her life of all the things that she had been holding on to for unwarranted reasons.

SF cleaned out her office, TW who gave up smoking wanted to wash everything mainly to remove the stale smoke smells that were lingering.

This is often a common occurrence when you clean on the inside you have the desire to clean on the outside.

Most of us were waking early and feeling energy to burn, I went with GF for a 35 km ride on the Saturday and for 52 km on Sunday, I was a bit shattered after that though.

SF wanted to get out and exercise, due to lack of motivation she had not been doing any for several months.

RC and I had been attending Buddhist meditation classes, we found more clarity in our meditation. I found everything was easier to understand, it all made sense all of a sudden.

TW had the desire to curl up and keep warm with a good book, she found it better to hibernate.

GF had the most interesting experience of all, he discovered he had gallstones when he had a gallbladder attack. This was very painful and unfortunate for him. However on a positive note he can now remove them from his body.

This just goes to show how powerful a fast can be. The idea of fasting is to give the digestive system a break and allow the body to do some healing. This is exactly what happened with GF his body decided it was time to cleanse the gallbladder.

Some of us felt a bit cold near the end of the fast. We all lost weight, some as much as 3.7 kg, but most of us around 3 kg.

We all had a lightness and feeling of well being. Everyone found that they were not hungry at all, some reported to have missed the chewing process.

So the fast had a positive result for everyone, we are all happy with the results.

This is the cheapest detox you can do. You don’t need to spend money on detox kits.

You just use the best organic fruits and vegetables available and you can cleanse your body and mind over an 8 day period and feel great.

Best results when you plan the process, do it with others as then you aren’t feeling isolated.

If you want to do a fast, then email me and I will send you the fasting protocol, it isn’t hard but important you follow the instructions. Should you suffer from chronic illness you should consult  a naturopath before fasting.

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Posted in General Health, Healthy Eating, Self Help | No Comments »

Is Broccoli a Super Food

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Broccoli is over 2,000 years old, it has been around since the Roman Empire, and is native to the Mediterranean region. Broccoli a relative of the cabbage family, it is believed was engineered from cabbage by the ancient Etruscans, who were considered to be horticultural geniuses.

When broccoli was first introduced into England, it was referred to as “Italian asparagus.” Although commercial cultivation of broccoli dates back to the 1500s, it did not become a popular foodstuff in the United States until the early 1920s.

Broccoli is one of the most nutrient rich foods but it is low in calories.

An excellent nutrient source of;

Vitamin A equiv.31 μg (3%)

- beta-carotene361 μg (3%)

- Lutein and zeaxanthin 1121 μg

Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.071 mg (5%)

Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.117 mg (8%)

Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.639 mg (4%)

Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.573 mg (11%)

Vitamin B6 0.175 mg (13%)

Folate (Vit. B9) 63 μg (16%)

Vitamin C 89.2 mg (149%)

Calcium 47 mg (5%)

Iron 0.73 mg (6%)

Magnesium 21 mg (6%)

Phosphorus 66 mg (9%)

Potassium 316 mg (7%)

Zinc 0.41 mg (4%)

and much much more. These vitamins and minerals aren’t just found in trace amounts either.  Broccoli actually contains more Vitamin C than many citrus fruits and higher protein than a sirloin steak on a gram for gram basis. The calcium is much higher than an entire glass of milk. It’s an even richer source of fibre than whole wheat bread.

Broccoli also contains glucosinolates and phyto-chemicals like diindolylmethane  and isothiocyanates that are considered to have anti viral, antibacterial and anticancer effects.

Broccoli has demonstrated it’s remarkable anticancer effects, especially in breast cancer. Glucosinolates, and sulforaphane, boosts the production of an enzyme known to neutralize carcinogens before they trigger tumor growth especially in breast and prostate cancer cells.

Studies have also shown broccoli to increase the ability of the liver to detoxify toxic compounds and decreases the growth of human papillomavirus (a virus linked to cervical cancer).

Studies conducted at the prestigious John Hopkins University showed that broccoli compounds trigger the body to produce a substance (sulforaphane) that, in turn, manufactures enzymes that are powerful cancer fighters.

These cancer fighting compounds are released during the chewing process and are in the highest concentration when the broccoli is raw.

Cooking broccoli will reduce the benefits by up to 80%.

Broccoli is known to be very beneficial in the prevention of heart disease. It is a low-glycemic  index food which helps to normalize blood sugar.

One of the keys to weight loss is controlling the body’s response to insulin. Broccoli also boosts the enzymes which help to detoxify the body. Detoxification leads to weight loss which helps with certain diseases prevention.

But wait it gets even better that that!

Broccoli sprouts are even better than just eating broccoli alone. Sprouts are exceptionally high in nutrients and proteins, this is due to the changes that happen at germination, amazing things happen to seeds when they start to germinate. At a mere 3 days old, they contain at least 20 times as much of disease-fighting anti cancer sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS) as the mature plant; SGS has been shown to kill tumors.

Just 28 gm or 1 ounce of sprouts has as much SGS as 600 gm or 1 1/4 pounds of broccoli. That’ll save you lots of chewing.

A Japanese pilot study found people who ate about a half cup a day of sprouts lowered their total cholesterol by an average of 15 points, and women in the study raised their good cholesterol by 8 points–in just 1 week.

Broccoli can save your sight, exposure to UV sunlight over time may lead to an eye condition called macular degeneration, which is the number one cause of blindness in the elderly. Researchers at Johns Hopkins determined that broccoli sprouts can protect retinal cells from ultraviolet light damage.

Conclusion:

It has proved to be very high in nutrients and has disease fighting value of amazing proportion. It can stop the growth of tumors and prevents cancer and heart disease. Broccoli is great for detoxification and weight loss. You don’t have to buy it at the health shop either in plastic container you can get it at your local organic grower. Or it can be grown in your garden or in a sprouting jar on your bench.

So is broccoli a super food, I say yes yes yes!

Get the full story about broccoli and other super foods you can grow in your  garden with lots of yummy raw recipes in my new e-book, coming soon  Sign up now for my newsletter and you will be the first to know when it is out.

Eating broccoli raw is the best way to get all the nutrients check out and try this recipe.

Broccoli Delight

1 small head of broccoli finely chopped

1 small head of cauliflower finely chopped

1 avocado Cubed

100 gm Goats feta cubed (Optional)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

2 green tomatoes finely chopped

Combine all ingredients and serve. This is really nice wrapped

in a lettuce leaf with some humus as a burrito.

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Posted in Raw Food, Recipes, Super Foods | 16 Comments »

The Humble Raw Beetroot Food or Medicine

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Today I would like to tell you about the benefits of the humble beetroot.

Beetroot heralds as one of the top cases for “Food be our Medicine”

In Juice, salad or soup, the beetroot  is an important part of any health regime.

Hippocrates advocated the use of beet leaves as binding wounds. It has been used as an aphrodisiac and to treat fevers & constipation by the Romans. In the middle ages it was used to cleanse and strengthen the blood. The signature of nature tells us that the beetroot is good for the blood the beetroot bleeds dark red blood when cut.

Modern research shows the beetroot as a powerful medicine, beetroot juice can be very helpful in lowering blood pressure, drinking beet juice every day will keep your blood pressure down as well as cleanse the blood of toxins. It is good for the liver and aids in detoxification. Beetroot also has been used for many years as a cancer treatment, it contains specific anti-carcinogens which are bound in the red pigments helps fight against cancer. Beetroot is an anti-oxidant fighting the free-radicals and is anti-aging, It  increases the uptake of oxygen in your blood by as high as 400 % this in itself will increase energy.

This makes beetroot a super food and a  medicine. Eating it RAW is the best way to get the full nutrient value of this wonderful little dynamo of a vegetable. Beetroot is know as food for the bowels those suffering from constipation,  irritable bowel syndrome, crohns or just bloating eating raw beetroot juice or grated beets will get great benefits as it soothes and protects the bowel. The beet greens are also very nutrient rich they contain beta- carotene and other carotenoids these function as anti-oxidants. They also contain vitamin C, iron, potassium and folate.

So add some of the raw beet tops to a green salad or you can pop some in with your smoothes.

Beetroot is easy to grow they grow all year round and  like a sunny position with well drained soil.

The best way to eat beetroot is raw, here are just a few  ways to prepare the humble delicious beetroot.

Beetroot and Carrot Treat

  • 2 Small Beetroot scrubbed [no need to peel]
  • 1 Carrot
  • 1/4 cup of Goji Berries soaked for 30 min in small amount of water.
  • 1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp of Coriander seeds
  • 2 tbs. of Flaxseed oil

Grate carrots and beetroot combine with soaked goji berries,

Mix flaxseed oil with seeds and pour over and mix well, chill or serve immediately. This is a winner, so yummy.

Variation: Try grating an apple instead of a carrot and add some raisins.

NB This keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days

Ginger Beets

  • 2 cups finely grated raw beets
  • 2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup [optional]
  • 1 Tbsp tamari
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

In a small bowl, combine the beets, ginger,maple syrup, tamari and lemon juice: toss.

Let the flavors blend for a few minutes before serving.

Beetroot Juice

  • 1 medium size raw beetroot.
  • 2 Medium size carrots
  • 2/3 sticks of celery [optional]
  • 1/2 cup of crushed ice [Optional]

Wash and or scrub all vegetables, juice in a juice extractor, and serve.

NB This should be consumed with in 12 hours of making for optimum nutrition

Beetroot Soup

  • 1 cup finely grated raw beets
  • 1 red pepper, cut in to chunks
  • 1/2 lemon peeled seeded and chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Nama Shoyu [ or tamari]
  • 1/3 cup raw tahini
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Water

In a blender combine the red pepper, lemon, and nama shoyu blend until smooth.

Add the beets, blend.

Add the tahini, paprika and enough water to achieve desired consistency.

Yields approximately 1 1/2 cups.

This can also be a dressing or sauce.

Well I hope these 4 recipes will inspire you to include much more beetroot in you diet. There are many other ways of eating beetroot but I suggest that you eat it Raw.

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Posted in Recipes, Super Foods | 4 Comments »

Naked as a new Born Baby

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Most of us only experience this nakedness as a new born baby when we are born. As we grow we start to cover this innocence and nakedness with delusions and barriers.

Our lives are a mass of experiences and exposures so we mask ourselves in what is expected by others like our parents and our peers. This is our protection from the naked truth of ourselves.

Some are better at this than others and they live in the delusion of who and what they are.

Some don’t care but most of us do. We hide behind our facade, like the clothes we wear, the style of which is usually the latest trend, our professions our belief  and opinions.

All of this is a product of others that we have seen, heard or read and we have shaped to call our own. Most of us would not want the world to know what hides behind this mask.

We all have our secrets that are for us alone and rightly so. I’m not saying that we are not allowed to have our privacy, I am speaking in a general sense.

The way we are presented to the world is of great importance we want to fit in with the crowd, most don’t want to stand out or be seen to be different. This would attract ridicule and rejection. No one wants to be rejected abandoned or out-casted.

We are a race that needs the protection of the group or tribe and we can’t survive with out it.

Should we not conform to the rest we may end up being alone, so this is the shape of the world as we know it.

I have been a product of this for all of my life and I’m Ok about that. I have always presented myself to the world as I would like others to see me. I act in the manner that I feel is fitting my status as a professional, a citizen, my sex and being a parent. I live in this way only exposing what I am comfortable with and hiding the rest.

I would like to question the value of this, how can we expect to be true to ourselves if we are not standing in our truth.

I recently ask this question of myself as I embarked on some healing that stems back to my childhood. I spoke the truth then and I was told it was not true and accused of a false hood,

No one believed me.

At the delicate age of 13 years I learnt how to put up the mask and live behind it.

Forty years later I can not live like this any longer and I don’t have to any more.

Three years ago I stood up and spoke the truth again, this time someone listened, I opened the door and exposed the ugly truth behind. The repercussions of this were catastrophic but I had chosen to walk the path and accept the consequences of my actions upon journey, this is the single most difficult thing I have ever done in my life.

The results have been very rewarding and I can now walk tall and proud thus being the person I have always been but was masked by someone else.

I feel cleansed and renewed like I have been reborn. I don’t feel exposed I feel free and open.

The healing of the hidden wound that I carried for so long is progressing very steadily I feel the need to be cleansed totally inside and out.

I have shed myself emotionally of all the pain shame and disgust that this wound held inside of me and now it is time to physically shed it from my body.

The memory of it is still in my cells and I need to cleanse that out.

I am in the process of doing a bowel cleanse right now I am using the Lifestream Cleanse

This consists of Aloe vera liquid, Bowel-biotics and Chlorella. This will cleanse my bowel and remove the toxins that hold the memory of the ugliness that comes from holding on to your shit. This is what I have done for 40 years, but no longer is there a place in my body for this.

It is not surprising that I have suffered from constipation and hemorrhoids in the past, you can’t hold on to your Shit so to speak with out there being some consequences.

I also developed a melanoma on my leg a few years back, a cancer eating me up, it appeared on my skin hence the cracking out of the mask.

I eat a diet of 90 to 95% Raw Food so I am nourishing my cells with the powerful nutrients to regenerate the rebirth of healthy new cells as they divide and reproduce.

When I have finished the cleanse at the end of this week, I am going to do a three day fast.

Fasting is the ultimate cleanse it will cleanse the whole body and rejuvenate the mind and soul. I usually do a fast at least once a year and I feel very cleansed with energy and vitality to burn.

Now at the beginning of this blog I started by saying “As naked as a new born baby”

So where does this come into this story?

Firstly in the way I am sharing my experience with you now and also in my rebirth.

I have got myself involved with some fund raising for Breast Cancer Awareness and I am shaving my head on Saturday the 10th October at 11.30 am outside Jester’s in Emerson Street.

The last stage of my cleansing is shaving off my hair to signify my rebirth.

I will be exposed in some ways as bald and naked as a new born baby.

I have shared my healing to the degree of my comfort, there is no need for details the essence is there for you to understand the significance of the experience.

I have become involved with the fundraising to support a client and friend that has been diagnosed with breast cancer and she has chosen to go through the Chemotherapy and radiology program. I am helping her with dietary advise and also in the future with homeopathy to remove the toxic radiation from her body.

Cancer is connection to control and it takes a lot of control to produce and maintain a mask and to hold it all in.

We are taught to do this from birth and it is reconfirmed throughout our lives by others and the process of conforming to the norm.

Eating a diet of raw food is in its own way a break from the normal, everyone else is eating cooked and processed food for every meal. People that eat Raw Food as their main diet are taking a step in to the unknown, they dare to be different and claim the prize.

I challenge you to step out into the unknown walk the plank and step off at the end and find yourself, the prize is waiting.

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Posted in Self Help | 2 Comments »